| > In countries where the currencies have not matched the USD depreciation, energy prices aren't anywhere near as high. Name a currency where oil prices have remained stable over the past ten years. I can't find one. Even oil-rich countries have seen their oil prices skyrocket. > Population growth It's not about population growth. It's about economic development. 2 billion Chinese and Indians doing subsistence farming or riding bicycles don't raise the price of oil. 2 billion Chinese and Indians buying cars for the first time does. You honestly think there's no relationship between the rising cost of oil and the smog blanketing Chinese cities in recent years? You want to talk precious metals? Half of platinum is used for automobiles, and another 30% is used for jewelry. Two sectors where demand goes up when previously poor countries suddenly get richer. Half of gold is jewelry as well. About 40% of gold is bought for investment, which if anything indicates a speculative bubble. > What is required is a flooding of the denominator - USD. So name another currency that doesn't show this. I picked Icelandic krona specifically because most critics of how the US responded to the global economic crisis hail Iceland as an example of doing it right. But their petroleum costs have risen as much as ours. > Printing any currency leads to inflation across the board. False. Expanding the monetary base in excess of economic growth leads to inflation. |